About

Artistic Director Clover Bell-Devaney founded Berkshire Actors Theatre in 2011, opening with a production of John Patrick Shanley's Four Dogs and a Bone. The production played to rave reviews and garnered much praise for its stellar performances. Central to this success is the theatre's commitment to working with local Berkshire-area actors, designers, and directors. With its new summer season home at Berkshire Museum, BAT is now making its mark as part of Pittsfield's "Upstreet Cultural District," helping to fuel the city's continued cultural renaissance. As a quality professional theatre, BAT plans to remain an indelible part of the Berkshire Arts scene for many years to come, providing audiences with the highest standards of quality performance and production values — dynamic theatre at its best.

Mission

Berkshire Actors Theatre is dedicated to producing intimate character-driven plays using Berkshire-based professional talent to provide our audiences with a fresh and dynamic take on the best modern works of our time.

Step up to BAT

Actors, designers, stage managers and anyone else interested in working with the Berkshires' small professional theatre should email Producing Artistic Director Clover Bell-Devaney at clover@berkshireactorstheatre.org.

Contact

Get in touch with Berkshire Actors Theatre by sending us an email, or call us at 413-347-9849.

Education

The Mission of BAT's Educational Department is to introduce professional acting techniques to students of all ages. An experienced staff designs and conducts programs directed towards specific needs including: acting and voice workshops, spring/summer drama camps, classes on public speaking and the direction of school theatrical productions.

BAT's school production of "Blackbeard Island" at the Richmond School was a success! "Let's Act! Creative Drama for Young People" has been in residence at Richmond School since November and will continue through the end of April.

Support

The Berkshire Actors Theatre produces professional theatre on an intimate scale. Consider supporting us in this endeavor by liking us on Facebook, telling your friends about us, and coming to see our productions.

Please consider making a donation to Berkshire Actors Theatre today.

You can make a tax deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor Fractured Atlas.

Donate Now

You can also write a check made out to Fractured Atlas and mail to: Berkshire Actors Theatre C/o Clover Bell-Devaney 21 Saint James Ave. Lee, MA. 01238

Fractured Atlas is a non-profit organization that serves a national community of artists and arts organizations. Their programs and services facilitate the creation of art by offering vital support to the artists who produce it. One of their services is fiscal sponsorship, which allows us to accept tax-deductible donations from you!

Thank you for supporting Berkshire Actors Theatre!

 

Membership Benefits

CONTRIBUTOR up to $249
Listing in the BAT program
E-newsletter
Spring cocktail party

CHARTER member $250+
All of the above, plus:
Opening Night Party

SILVER CHARTER $1000+
All of the above, plus:
2 complimentary tickets to the production of your choice

GOLD CHARTER $2,500+
All of the above, plus:
"Behind the Scenes"
(open rehearsal and reception)

CHARTER ANGEL $5,000+
All of the above, plus:
Personalized benefits
As well as our ongoing gratitude

People

CLOVER BELL-DEVANEY (Founding Artistic Director/Producer/Actor) is a BFA graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, and has worked extensively in NY and regional theatre. Credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, The Pioneer Theatre, George St. Playhouse, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, to name a few. She has appeared locally with Berkshire Theatre Festival, Mixed Company, The Colonial Theatre, and the Aglet Theatre. Among her favorite roles are; the title role in Miss Julie, Curley's Wife in Of Mice and Men, and Gwendolyn in The Importance of being Earnest. TV credits include One Life To Live, All My Children, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Law & Order, as well as several national commercials.

DANIEL POPOWICH (Founding Member/Actor) hails from Greenfield, MA, on the other side of the Berkshires in the Pioneer Valley. He has lived in the Pioneer Valley since 1993 and has performed up and down the Valley for many theatre companies. He appeared as Bradley in BAT's inaugural production of Four Dogs and a Bone in 2011. Other favorite roles include Noakes in New Century Theatre's 2009 production of Arcadia; Stephano in The Tempest, King Henry in Henry VI, Part I, and Fool in King Lear for Hampshire Shakespeare Co; Estragon in Waiting for Godot, Philoctetes in Seamus Heaney's The Cure at Troy, and Magog in a touring production of The Captivation of Eunice Williams for Old Deerfield Productions; and Marc in Art for West County Players.

JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY (Playwright) is a celebrated American playwright, screenwriter, and director, known for his dark humor, taut dialogue, and keen powers of observation. He has written nearly 25 plays over his career, including Doubt: A Parable, which garnered a Tony Award for Best Play in 2005 and earned Shanley the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Shanley also penned the Academy Award-winning film Moonstruck, for which he received the honor of Best Screenplay. He is a graduate of New York University.

BRIAN MASTROIANNI (Assistant to the Artistic Director/Press Agent) is a multimedia journalist and freelance writer who graduated with honors from Brown University in 2011 with a degree in English and Literary Arts. As a journalist, his work has been published on Yahoo! News, CBSNews.com, read on-air by anchors at New England Cable News, and published in the pages of The Berkshire Eagle, Brown Medicine Magazine, and The Brown Daily Herald. Beyond journalism, Brian enjoys creative writing, film, and theatre, and wrote a full-length play for his college honors thesis. Born in Chile, but raised in the Berkshires, Brian is very excited to be a part of the area's most dynamic new theatre company.

RUSSELL ARDEN KOPLIN (Artistic Associate/Actress) has appeared on Broadway in Les Miserables (Eponine) and in James Joyce's The Dead. Some Off-Broadway & Regional credits include: Manuscript (directed by Bob Balaban), Jerry Herman's Showtunes, the title role in Junie B. Jones (Lucille Lortel Theater), and The Ruby Sunrise directed by Oskar Eustis (Humana Festival & Trinity Repertory). TV appearances include: Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Third Watch, The Guiding Light & One Life to Live. Russell's voice can also be heard on numerous TV and radio commercials. As an associate producer she just finished working on her first independent feature film, Mutual Friends. And when she's not busy with her film and acting/voice-over work, she devotes her time to the nonprofit organization Achilles International coordinating the disabled portion of the New York City Marathon, acting as the live auctioneer at their annual gala, and is director and founder of the organization's Junior Board. Russell is a graduate of Northwestern University.

ENRICO SPADA (Graphic Designer) is a Berkshires-based graphic designer, web designer, actor, teacher and director. Visit him online at enricospada.com.

2012 Season

ANDREW VOLKOFF (Director) is a freelance director who served as former Associate Artistic Director of Barrington Stage Company (BSC) in Massachusetts for five years and of Genesius Theatre Group in New York City for three years. At BSC, he has staged The Fantasticks, Underneath the Lintel, This Wonderful Life, I Am My Own Wife, Fully Committed, Santaland Diaries, Thief River, The Shape of Things, The Laramie Project, Love and Happiness, and My Scary Girl. He has directed for the Lyric Stage in Boston, MA, as well as at several venues in New York, including Joe's Pub and NYMF. Andrew is a Drama League Directing Fellow and a proud SDC member. Upcoming projects include Vigil by Morris Panych for Amphibian Productions and participating in an artist exchange program directing in Bulgaria.

BRAD BERRIDGE (Director) Professional Directorial Debut. Primarily serving as a Sound Artist, Brad has designed sound and composed music for theatrical productions across the United States. Locally, Brad has designed over a dozen productions for Barrington Stage Company (The Best of Enemies, The Crucible, Pool Boy, The Whipping Man); other local companies: WAM Theatre, Capital Repertory Theatre, Williams College Theatre, and Berkshire Actors Theatre's debut production of Four Dogs and a Bone. Brad is the Creative Director for the sound art collective, Push The Button. Their work has been exhibited across the United States and they were featured artist and presenters at the 2011 Prague Quadrennial design exhibition in the Czech Republic. PTB will be a featured artist at the World Stage Design in Cardiff, UK in the fall of 2013.

PEGGY PHARR WILSON (Actor) Barrington Stage: The Crucible, To Kill A Mockingbird, Guys & Dolls, Carousel, Laramie Project: Epilogue, 10 x 10 new play festival. New York: Six Women with Brain Death (co-author, and performed it also in Chicago, Dallas & Kansas City). Regional: 10 seasons with Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado performing over 50 roles, including Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (best actress Ovation Award Denver Post), Shirley Valentine, Josie in Moon For The Misbegotten and Mac in 3 Viewings. Mrs. Jennings in staged reading of Sense & Sensibility for Berkshire Musical Theatre Workshop. Many other regional including: Dallas Theatre Center, Theatre 3, Kansas City Rep, Unicorn, KC Lyric Opera, White River in Vermont and Rose Theatre in Chicago. Married to BSC Managing Director Tristan Wilson. www.peggypharrwilson.com.

DEANN SIMMONS HALPER (Actor) works as an actor, director, and producer. She has numerous Off-Broadway and regional credits including Eva Ruby in Camelot's Ruby at Bank Street Theatre; Sandy in Paper Tigers at the Arc Light Theatre; Gwen Landis in Fifth of July and Viazaphuhrika in Strider, both opposite Tony Award winner Joe Mantello at the Roger L. Stevens Centre; Mom/Margaret in Love and Happiness and multiple characters in The Laramie Project at Barrington Stage Company; Karen/Muriel/Norma in Plaza Suite, Emily Dickinson in The Belle of Amherst and Vera in Mame all at TriArts' Sharon Playhouse; and numerous productions with the Aglet Theatre Company. Deann has produced several New York and Regional productions including the OBIE nominated Incommunicado and The Vagina Monologues. She has served on the Boards of Directors for Circle Rep, New York Stage and Film, TriArts' Sharon Playhouse and Barrington Stage Company and is currently on the Board of Visitors at North Carolina School of the Arts where she received her theatre training. Presently, she is the Executive Director of Aglet Theatre Company.

MICHAEL J. FOSTER (Actor) is an actor, writer and editor living in Northern Berkshire County and is extremely pleased to be taking part in Berkshire Actors Theatre's first production. He has appeared in many productions in the past decade in locations as near as Main Street Stage in North Adams and as far away as southern France. His favorite roles include Pato in Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Randle Patrick McMurphy in Dale Wasserman's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dr. Benjamin James in Lisa DuPre's Lineage.

ALIKA HOPE (Actor) Although Alika was noted for her "sassiness and sensuality" by Opera News, she hopes her time in the Berkshires will re-connect her to her gentle beginnings in the mountains of Oregon. New York City: Philomel, Pajama Game, Master Class, H.M.S Pinafore, Once on This Island, Midsummer Night's Dream. Regional: Trojan Women, Treemonisha, Showboat, Big River, Porgy and Bess. Other appearances include Opera Company of Philadelphia and Cincinnati Opera. In Western Mass., Alika portrayed Mayme in Intimate Apparel at New Century Theatre and Junie in The Island Lily at The Majestic Theater. Alika is currently a reporter for Perspective TV, which airs on NBC Connecticut, and CT Properties TV, airing on ABC in Connecticut. B.A., University of Notre Dame. M.A., Columbia University.

PATRICK WHITE (Actor) is happy and grateful to be making his Berkshire debut with Berkshire Actors Theatre in his mother Carolyn Coughlin White's hometown of Pittsfield. He has worked extensively in New York's Capital Region recently as Luther Flynn in Superior Donuts at Capital Repertory Theatre, Frank Hardy in Faith Healer at Albany Civic Theatre, Bert in A Wonderful Life with C-R Productions at Cohoes Music Hall, Sommerset in Great Expectations at UAlbany and Henry in The Real Thing with Schenectady Civic Players. He has also performed with Bristol Valley Theatre, Confetti Stage, Curtain Call Theatre, Hubbard Hall, NYSTI, Theater Voices and The Theater Barn in Good, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Andersonville Trial, Our Town, Blithe Spirit, A Man For All Seasons, King Lear, Rebecca, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, The Seagull, Witness For The Prosecution, The Underpants, The Miracle Worker, Bill W. and Dr. Bob, and Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge, among others.

JEFF DAVIS (Lighting Designer) first visited the Berkshires when he became the lighting designer for the Berkshire Theatre Festival in 1979-1990. Additionally, he has designed numerous productions for Barrington Stage Company and Berkshire Opera. All totaled, he has designed over 65 productions in the Berkshires. Winter design work has included 25 productions for New York City Opera, 26 Broadway and National Touring productions, and, for television, "Live From Lincoln Center", "One Life to Live", "All My Children". Jeff has been a happy resident of Stockbridge since 1984.

BRIAN PRATHER (Set Designer) NYC: Freud's Last Session, WTC View, The Burnt Part Boys, Fugitive Songs, Fair Game, Badge, Castronauts. South Korea: Minyeo-neun Goerowo. Barrington Stage Co.: Going to St. Ives; Mormons, Mothers and Monsters; The Memory Show; Poolboy; Freud's Last Session; A Streetcar Named Desire; Underneath the Lintel; The Mysteries of Harris Burdick; My Scary Girl; See Rock City; I Am My Own Wife; A Picasso. Regional: The 39 Steps, Shakespeare's R&J, The Year of Magical Thinking, No Child..., Old Times. Opera: L'Enfant et les Sortileges, La Finta Giardiniera.

Our 2012 Season

June 21–July 14

Doubt: A Parable

by JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY
directed by BRAD BERRIDGE

featuring
Clover Bell-Devaney
Alika Hope
Patrick White
Peggy Pharr Wilson

What is the truth? Rules are followed, rules are broken and faith is shaken in search of an answer. Set in a Bronx Catholic School in 1964, this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama crackles with tension as the characters confront uncertainties brought to light by the play's unfolding mystery.

July 2–15

Four Dogs and a Bone

by JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY
directed by ANDREW VOLKOFF

featuring
Clover Bell-Devaney
Michael Foster
Deann Halper
Daniel Popowich

Ambition is a four-letter word. One floundering film, four inflated egos, and enough secret alliances to make Survivor look like child's play, Four Dogs is a hilarious dark comedy about the insanity of show business. Featuring the original cast of BAT's acclaimed 2011 production.

Tickets are $25 for general seating; for advance purchase, call 413.443.7171, ext. 10, or visit the Museum's front desk. www.berkshiremuseum.org

Berkshire Actors Theatre is generously sponsored in part by Berkshire Bank

Download the 2012 Season Calendar (PDF)

About the Season

Our 2012 summer season will pair two shows by John Patrick Shanley, both performed at Berkshire Museum. The season will open June 21 with Doubt: A Parable, Shanley's Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play. Opening one week later will be a remount of last season's successful production of Four Dogs and a Bone, which earned us mentions in the "Best of 2011" columns by Jeff Borak and Gail Burns. The two plays will be performed in repertory through July 15.

Doubt: A Parable explores its characters' struggle to hold on to their deeply held beliefs within the confines of a Bronx Catholic School in 1964, while Four Dogs and a Bone is a hilarious send-up about the movie making business. "The idea of running these two plays in repertory appealed to me as a way to create a striking juxtaposition between theatre that makes you think deeply about important issues and theatre that allows you to simply be entertained," says Artistic Director Clover Bell-Devaney. "The chance to experience two totally different sides of one renowned playwright's work is a unique opportunity for actors and audience alike, and I'm so pleased to have John Patrick Shanley on board to consult with about his work during the creative process."

Shanley who also wrote and directed the 2008 Oscar-nominated film version starring Meryl Streep, as well as being an Oscar-winner for the movie Moonstruck is excited to see his work being performed by BAT. "Clearly, theatre is alive and kicking at Berkshire Actors Theatre," Shanley said, calling BAT a "vibrant new theatre company." Plans are in the works to arrange a talk-back after one of the performances this summer at the Berkshire Museum, which the playwright hopes to attend.